PAY-TV broadcaster British Sky Broadcasting is set to post recession-busting results on Thursday when it is expected to reveal operating profits are up 9 per cent to £789 million.

Sky is one of the beneficiaries of the credit crunch, which has resulted in more people staying at home for entertainment.

Due to the growth in its subscriber numbers and premium content viewers analysts expect Sky to post full-year revenues of £5.3 billion, up 7.3 per cent.

According to analysts’ consensus forecasts, Sky added 94,000 net new customers over the year to June 30, while the number of people taking its high-definition service is expected to have shot up 46.8 per cent to 731,000.

Analysts expect Sky’s “churn rate”, or proportion of customers who leave the firm, to stay static at around 10 per cent.

Sky’s results will also show that it is starting to recover some of the losses it has sustained on its 17.9 per cent stake in ITV.

The firm spent £940 million on acquiring the stake in 2006 but since then ITV’s shares have plummeted in value, forcing Sky to take two hits for hundreds of millions of pounds. However, since the latest charge, ITV’s share price has recovered.

This week should also see pay-TV set-top box manufacturer Pace report strong interim results tomorrow due to the success of Sky and other broadcasters.

Analysts at Royal Bank of Scotland believe Pace will produce pre-tax profits of £33 million for the first half of the year, against the £9.2 million it made for the same period 12 months ago.